Controlling mechanism for meal-cookers and the like



1 349, 1 43. Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. R m I w I I I I I I l l I I I l I I 1 ''I i k I I I I I V l l I I I l l J ATTQEJYEKS K. C. BARTON.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR MEAL COOKERS AND THE LIKE.

I APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16,1918- 1,349,143.- Patented g 10, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fey 2. Fig. 3.

fJYVE/YTOB.

ATTORNEYS K. C. BARTON.

CONTROLLING MECHANlSM FOR MEAL COOKERS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1918.

1 349, 1 43 Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

3 SHEET S-SHEET 3.

m vzwroa ATTORNEY/3 KIRTLAND G. BARTON, NATIONAL STOCK YARDS,'ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE FRENCH OIL MILL MACHINERY 00., F

PIQUA, 011 10.

CONTROLLING; MECHANISM FOR MEAL-GOOKERS AND rim LIKE.

To all wfiom it may concern:

Beit known that I, KIRTLAND C. BARTON,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at National Stock Yards, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Control ling Mechanism for Meal-Cookers and the like, tion. a

This invention relatesto controlling mechanism for automatic. cookers of the kind that are used for cooking oil bearing meal preparatory to expressing the oil therefrom. A cooker of this type is shown, for example in Patent No. 1,112,128, granted Sept. 29, 1914, to M. W. F aherty, assignor. This cooker comprises a plurality of kettles or chambers arranged in a descending series of which the following is a specificato permit the meal to discharge from each,

kettle into the next .lower kettle, and the delivery of the meal from one kettle to the next is automatically in such a manner that when the gate for the next to the bottom kettle is opened the meal will discharge from this second kettle into the bottom kettle until the bottom kettle is filled to a predetermined point. This gate is then closed and the gate of the next kettle above its openedto permit the'meal to discharge from the third kettle into the second kettle, and so on, each kettle thus delivering its meal into the next kettle below latter kettle has been emptieds'and its gate closed. In this way the-time that the meal remains in the several kettles is controlled and the cooking of the meal regulated.

Ordinarily the cookers employed in oil mills are of a capacity such that thebottom j lower kettle. The cooker should be of'such kettle contains enough meal to fill afull line of presses in the mill, that is, for instance, in a six press mill the bottom kettle of the cooker will holdenough meal to make. the

number of cakes required to fill these six presses. After the cakes have been formed from the meal Withdrawn from the bottom kettle and all of the presses are filled and ready to express the'oil, the gates of the cooker are caused to operate in the manner I explained, to deliver themeal in succession from each kettle to the next kettle below,

thus again filling the bottom kettle ready for the next run of cakes, Heretofore, it has been customary to start the automatic operation of the gates either by "hand, as shown in the Faherty patent mentioned, or auto- Specification of Letters Patent.

controlled bygates enlarged scale,

after thedescending Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application filed September is, 1918. Serial No. 254,245.

matically by mechanism controlled ,by the level of the meal in the'bottom kettle, the

' gate for the second kettle being opened when trolling the delivery of meal to the bottom kettle will not be opened and kettle to be filled unil the last line hasbeen filled ing the oil.

* In the accompanying drawings:

permit this press of 'the and is ready for express- Figure 1 is an elevation showing a meal cooker and a plurality of oil presses equipped with mechanism embodying this invention for controlling the operation of the cooker.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation, on an ating mechanism therefor.

Fig. 3 is .a sectional elevation thereof on line 3-3,. Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly in section, showing a modification of the invention.

F ig; 5 is a similar view of still another modification of the invention.

represents a meal cooker and B B B a plurality of oil expressing presses, of which any suitable number may be employed. The meal cooker shown in the drawings comprises a plurality of kettles arranged in a series and having bottom openings a through which the meal is adapted to discharge from one kettle into the next capacity that the bottom kettle will hold enou h meal to fill all of the presses B -B B E are supplied by the cooker. The dischargeiof' meal through each of the discharge openings at is controlled bya gate C.

' When all of the meal has been withdrawn of the cooker and gate oper- As the meal rises in the hot:

tom kettle, it lifts a floator closing device I G, which when the meal has risen to a predetermined level in the bottom kettle, closes the gate 0 of the second kettle. The closing of the gate G turns a disk or Wheel F at tached to the gate and raises a second trip rod M which, when the gate C for the second kettle is fully closed, trips the latch E for the gate of the next kettle above, permitting the gate of this kettle to open to discharge the meal from the third kettle into the second kettle. The gate of this third kettle is then closed and the gates of the remaining kettles opened and closed in succession in a similar manner. The cooker thus briefly described is constructed and operates as more fully described in said Faherty patent. This cooker could, however, be of any other suitable construction having means adapted, when set in operation to cause the meal to be delivered from one to another of the kettles in success1on.

In accordance with this invention the first gate, or gate of the second kettle, is not tripped by handas in the case of said patented cooker, but the opening of the gate is dependent upon the actuation of mechanism controlled by the filling of the last press B in the line supplied by the cooker.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, this controlling mechanism is constructed and operates as follows The uppermost movable press plate I) of the last press B of the line has secured rigidly thereto anfarm 10 which projects laterally from the press plate and is connected by a rod or connectlon 11 to one arm of a bell-crank lever 12 which is suitably pivoted above the press. The other arm of this lever is connected by a rod or connection 13 to one arm of a second bell-crank lever 14 which, as shown, is suitably fulcrumed on the upper portion of the meal cooker. The other arm of this second lever 14 is connected by a rod or connection 15 to the trip rod I1 for the ate C for the second kettle of the cooker. Vhen the last press B has been filled with cakes and the pressure oil admitted to the press cylinder the press. plates are lifted to compress the material between the plates in a well known manner, and when the uppermost movable plate 6 is raised it operates through the rods and levers described, to lift the trip rod L and release the gate C for the second kettle so that this gate will open and permit the meal to dischar e from the second kettle into the bottom (ettle. Afterthis gate has been opened in this manner, the gate is closed and the other gates of the cooker opened and closed in succession automatically, as aboveexplained. I

The controlling connections for the cooker gate-are preferably .made with the uppermost movable press plate I) for the reason that this plate is the last one to be moved and moves a definite fixed distance and therefore insures a proper operation of the gate controlling mechanlsm. The actuation weight 21.

of the cooker gate is thus positive and accurate and the automatic operation of the cooker gates is not commenced until the last press of the line-has been filledand sent up. In this way the automatic discharging and refilling of the cooker kettles commences when, and only when, the quantity of meal necessary to fill the entire line of presses has been withdrawn from the bottom kettle, and this ordinarily practically empties the bottom kettle, thus insuring the intended operation ofthe cooker and the proper cooking of the meal.

The automatic operation of the cooker could, however, be controlled by other means dependent upon the filling or the operation of the last press of the line. For instance, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, instead of actuating the gate trip rod indirectly through the instrumentality of one of the press plates, the pressure of the press operating oil or liquid which moves the press plate is utilized directly for actuatin the trip rod. In the mechanism shown in 1g; 4, 16 represents an automatic change valve such as commonlyused for controlling the admission of high pressure oil to the press cylinder 6 This change valve mechanism, as is well known, comprises a low pressure oil supply pipe 17, a'high pressure oil supply 95 pipe 18, a pipe 19 leading from the change valve to the press cylinder, and a plunger or member 20 which is subpect'ed to the pres- I sure of the low pressure oi from the supply pipe 17. This plunger is normally seated on a port 20 and prevents the. admission of high pressure oil to the'press, by suitable; means, such as a lever 21 engaging the plunger stem and rovided with an adjustable hen the low pressure supply valve 22 is opened, the oil from the low pressure pipe 17 passes through the pipe 19 to the press cylinder b and raisesthe ram and press plates, taking up the slack and applying pressure to the cakes. When the slack has been taken up and the cakes offer a predetermined resistance to the movement of the press ram, the increased pressure in the change valve moves the plunger or member 20 opening the port 20*,to admit the high pressure oil from the pipe 18 to the press cylinder. The movementof the weighted lever 21 of the change valve is utilized for actuating the gate trip rod L of the cooker. For this purpose the lever is shown as con 1120 nected to a rod 23 which is connected as above explained, by bell crank levers and; rods, or other suitable connections to the gate trip -rod L. Thus, the pressure of the press operating oil operates directly through v plunger or member mov'able' inthe cylinder 26 is subjected to the pressure of the oil in the press cylinder. The movement of the plunger is opposed by a lever 29 provided with an adjustable weight 30. When the 011 in the press cylinder reaches a predetermined pressure, dependent upon the resistance ofi'ered by the material in the press, this lever 29 is actuated and through connections such as above described, or other suitable connections, actuates the, gate trip rod L of the cooker and causes the automatic operation of the cooker. The plunger cylinder 26 of this mechanism can, if desired be located adjacent to the cooker A and connected directly by a rod 31 or other suitable means to trip the rod L.

I claim as my invention l The combination with a. cooker comprising a plurality of kettles and means for causing the delivery of the material from ane kettle to another, and a press for pressing material withdrawn from said cooker,

of means which are controlled by the operation of said press and which act when said press is operated to set in action said first mentioned means and cause the delivery of material from one kettle to another.

2. The combination with a cooker comprising a plurality of kettles and means for causing the delivery of material from one kettle to another, and apress for pressing material Withdrawn from said cooker, of controlling mechanism 'in operative connection with said press and with said cooker, said mechanism being actuated by the operation of said press and operating when actuated to set in action said means and cause the delivery of material from .one kettle to another.

-3. The combination with a cooker comprising a plurality of kettles and means for causing the delivery of material from one kettle'to another, and a press for pressing material withdrawn from said cooker, of a controlling deviceswhich is moved by the operation of said press, and means for trans mitting motion from said controlling device to set in action said firstmentioned means and cause the delivery of material from one kettle to another.

4. The combination with a cooker comprising a kettle and means for causing the delivery of material'to said kettle, and a press for pressing material withdrawn from 1 said cooker, ofcontrolling mechanism in operative connection with said press and with said cooker, said mechanism being actuated by the operation of said press andoperating when actuated to' set in action said means and cause the delivery of material tosaid kettle. 1 p

5. The combination with a cooker com prising a kettle and means which operate when. set in action to cause the delivery of material to said kettle,.and a press, of a controlling device which is' moved by the operation of said press, a trip device for delivery of material to said kettle, and a press having a movable press plate, of controlling mechanism in operative connection with said press plate and with said means, said mechanism being actuated by the movement of said press plate and operating when actuated to set in action said means and cause the delivery of the material to said kettle 3 7. The combination with a cooker comprising a plurality of kettles arranged to deliver material from one kettle to another, gates controlling the discharge of material from the kettles, and gate-operating mechanism which operates when set in action to cause the opening and closing of said gates one after another, and a press for pressing the material withdrawn from said cooker, of controlling mechanism which is actuated by the operation of said. press and operates whenactuated to set in. action said gate operating mechanism.

8. The combination with a cooker comprising a plurality of kettles and means for causing the delivery of material from one kettle to another, anda press for pressing material withdrawn from said cooker, said press having a capacity adapting it to-be filled by material contained in the last kettle of the cooker, of controlling mechanism in operative connection with said press and said cooker, said mechanism being actuated by the operation ofsaid press and operating automatically when actuated to set in action said means and cause the delivery of material from one kettle to another.

9. The combination of a cooker comprising a kettle and means for causing the delivery of material to said kettle, and a press for pressing material withdrawn from said kettle, said press having a capacity adapting it to be filled by material contained in said kettle, of controlling mechanism in opera tive connection with said pressand said .cooker, sald mechamsm being actuated by terial to said kettle. I

10; The combination with a cooker comprising akettle and means for causing the deliveryofinaterial to said kettle, and one setting in action said means, and means for ormore pressesfor pressing material withdrawn {from said kettle and having a' total capacityadapting said press or presses to beifilled by a substantially definite quantity 'of materialwithdrawn from said kettle, of

automatically operated to tion with one of said presses and said cooker, said mechanism'being actuated by the operation of one of1 said presses after said presses have been fi led, and operating when actuated to set in action said means to cause the delivery of material to said kettle, whereby said deliver mechanism is eliver material to the kettle after the Withdrawal from said 10 kettleof said material to fill said press or presses. r I

Witness my hand this 31st day of August,

KIRTLAND C. BARTON.

Witnesses: CECIL C. BotrHWELL, E. H. SGHEMMER. 

